Eastern Michigan professor reveals forgotten history of WWII pianos

When Garik Pedersen visited New York City 11 years ago to pick up a Steinway piano, he never expected to be shown into 94-year-old Henry Steinway’s office.

Pedersen also never expected that his impromptu conversation with Steinway, the last in his family to run the legendary piano company, would change the course of his next decade.

Today, Pedersen, a piano professor at Eastern Michigan University, is touring the country to tell veterans, music enthusiasts and captive audiences about one of Steinway's proudest achievements.

Garik Pedersen, an Eastern Michigan University piano professor, is touring the U.S. to tell the story of a World War II-era piano.(Photo: Provided by Eastern Michigan University)

That day in 2008, Steinway told Pedersen the story of the Victory Vertical, a lightweight piano he helped create during World War II that could parachute into war zones. Steinway wanted to bring the comfort and familiarity of music to the front lines, and hoped to inspire morale overseas.

"I sort of felt like 'how did I get a doctorate in piano and never have heard any reference to this story?'" Pedersen said. "I didn't do anything with it for a while because I came home and thought 'I'm probably the last person to know.'"

Steinway died months after their meeting, but Pedersen was fascinated by their conversation. In the following years, he took trips to New York City and to Steinway archives, educating himself about the Victory Verticals' history and piecing together a program he now performs at churches and concert halls.

"I thought I was just doing this for myself, because I was interested ... so it just gradually took shape, and I started to feel like, 'people need to hear this,'" Pedersen said. "To me, this is an important story."

He's given his Victory Verticals presentation, complete with a slideshow and accompanied by his own piano performance, in states such as Arizona, Texas, Florida and Washington.

He tells audiences the story of an instrument that was designed to withstand South Pacific humidity and was airdropped onto multiple continents during World War II, that saw the front lines of the war and entertained the troops there. The instruments are lighter than normal pianos, since many of the metals used in piano construction were needed for war efforts.

He takes listeners through classic songs troops might have heard from a Victory Vertical in the 1940s, playing swing, jazz, classical and film music. While he doesn't yet have his own Victory Vertical to play at his shows, Pedersen said his program has helped him find the pianos in Iowa, Alabama, Tennessee and Ann Arbor.

Pedersen said his program often inspires emotional reactions from audience members, many of whom have a connection to the military. Last spring, during a season that tends to bring high rates of veteran suicides, Pedersen visited and played in a series of veterans' facilities.

“I got so much more from that experience than anyone who heard me,” Pedersen said. "I'm thinking right now of an old gentleman in a wheelchair, who when I started to play "The Star Spangled Banner," there was no way he was going to remain seated. I thought he was going to fall, but he got to his feet."

Pedersen is in the process of getting his own Victory Vertical that he'll take on tour with him in the future. He’ll perform next on Sunday in Manistique in the Upper Peninsula, then on Tuesday in Escanaba.

He also hopes to combine his show with theatrical portrayals of the stories he tells, and is co-writing a children's book with his wife to tell younger audiences the Victory Vertical story.

“I’ve played a lot of audiences that for some reason have either memories, or they’re still close to World War II," Pedersen said. "...I really think this is a good program for young audiences, and I would love to find a way to play in school settings or family settings where I can bring these stories to younger audiences as well.”

But if his tour inspires curiosity, learning or passion for music in any of his audience members, Pedersen said he'll feel like he's done his job.

"My whole life has been spent trying to bring audiences to music because I'm pretty passionate about its value and its beauty and its fun," Pedersen said. "I've tried in so many ways throughout my career, and this project, I feel, has been my most successful attempt at this point."